May 15, 2003
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Junior Erin Voeltz tossed a five-inning perfect game and struck out a career-high 11 batters to lead fifth-seeded Georgia Tech to a 9-0 victory over No. 8 seed Southern University in NCAA Regional action at the Alabama Softball Complex. With the victory, the Jackets stay alive to face the loser of Friday’s Southern Illinois-Stanford at 5 p.m. Tech lost to No. 4 seed Illinois, 5-3, to open the tournament Thursday.
Voeltz (13-6) fired the first perfect game and no-hitter of her collegiate career, as she went five innings and struck out 11 for her first victory since defeating Georgia Southern on April 21. The no-hitter was the 11th in program history and first since Jessica Sallinger blanked Georgia Southern on February 16, 2002.
Junior catcher Tasha Waugh and All-American shortstop Tara Knudsen each hit two-run home runs to lead the Tech offense.
After Voeltz struck out five of Southern’s first six batters, 12 Jackets came to the plate in an eight-run second inning. After a Sara Wissmann infield single to lead off the rally, Waugh launched a mammoth home run over the scoreboard in left center to put the Jackets up 2-0. Left fielder Kirin Kumar, who singled to left and advanced to third on a pair of walks, then scored on a wild pitch.
With three runs already on the board and two outs, Knudsen ripped a line-drive homer to left to increase the margin to 5-0. The shot was Knudsen’s Atlantic Coast Conference-best 13th of the season and her first since Tech’s last trip to Tuscaloosa on April 26. The Jackets pushed the lead to 8-0 on a RBI double from right fielder Soraya Reddick and an two-run single by Wissmann, who had two hits in the inning.
Tech added a run in the fourth on a RBI ground out from Wissmann.
Nine different Jackets hit safely, led by Wissmann, who was 2-for-3 with three RBI. The Jackets have now posted at least eight hits in each of the last four games. On the day, Tech tallied 19 hits and three home runs in the two games. The nine runs versus Southern was a NCAA Regional single-game high for the Jackets.
The Lady Jaguars’ Jayme Roberts (6-7) took the loss after allowing eight runs in two innings. With the defeat, Southern is eliminated from the Regional.
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